Fifth-wheel



(No Model.) I

- e. A. LANE.

FIFTH WHEEL.

No. 389,578. Patented Sept. 18, 1888.

(l (916: Z .Eurazzfor: 7/J% 9M %m 8 1174mm. fiy57fm UNITED STATESPATENT, OFFICEO GEORGE A. LANE, OF ROCHESTER, NEWV YORK.

FIFTH-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,578, datedSeptember 18, 1888.

Application filed May 26, 1888.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. LANE, of Rochester,in the county of Monroeand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inFifth WVheels, which improvement is fully set forth in the followingspecification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to improve the running-gear of a wagon byproducing a novel fifthwvheel therefor, which feature, with the improvedparts associated therewith, comprises the essential part of theinvention, the whole being hereinafter fully described, and moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of some of the parts atthefront end ofa wagongear, including a portion of the reach and thefifth-wheel, the spring and other parts being omitted; Fig. 2, a frontelevation ofthe same; Fig.3, a vertical section taken on the dotted lineas in Fig. 2, and viewed as indicated by the arrow pointed thereon; Fig.4, drawn to a larger scale, is a front view of some of the parts,showing the telescoped eyes for receiving the king-bolt,verticallysectioned to better show their form and construction; and Fig. 5, a planof a portion of the fifth-wheel,serving to more fully show the detailsof its form.

Referring to the parts, A is the front iron axle of a wagon; B, the woodpart or stock thereof; 0, the head-block, and D the spring. E is thefifth-wheel, it being of the D pat tern; F, the reach; G, the king-bolt,and H the plate resting upon the fifth-wheel beneath the head-block. Thereach is secured to the head-block by side irons, a a, to the spring byan upper iron, I), and to the axle by the safety hook or brace c beneaththe fifth-wheel.

The fifth-wheel is formed with an eye, d, through which the king-boltpasses, projecting forward or beyond the frontsnrface of the axle, andthe plate H is formed with asimilar eye, 6, which is formed with areduced part,

5 f, extending downward to enter the eye (1, as

clearly shown in Fig. 4. The iron axle A is likewise formed with an eye,9, in line with the eyes d and e,to receive and hold the lower end ofthe king-bolt. The several eyes or rests for the king-bolt hold thelatter wholly Serial No. 275,143. (No model.)

in front of the wooden and iron part of the axle. The upper end of theking-bolt is formed with a flat laterally-extended head, h, throughwhich bolts 03 pass, the same extending through the head-block and theoutward-bent ends of the respective sideirons,a,ofthe reach. The lowerend of the king-bolt extends below the eye 9 and passes through an eye,70, at the front end of the brace c, and is provided with a screw-nut,Z, atits projecting end below the brace.

The fiftlrwheel is also formed with minor eyes 0, also reaching outbeyond the front and rear surfaces of the axle to receive clamping boltsor ties p, to bend the fifth-wheel to the axle, ordinary cross-clips, r,being employed beneath the iron axle. The plate H beneath the head-blockis likewise formed with eyes or loops 8, extending laterally forward andbackward beyond the respective front and rear faces of the head-block tore ceive clamping-bolts t, to bind said plate,the head-block, and springtogether, cross-clips a being placed on top of the spring. In thisconstruction the axle, fifthwheel, and headblock are neither of thempierced to receive the king-bolt or the clamping-bolts. Thus they arerendered much stronger than ifbored to receive the said bolts.

The extended part f of the eye a ofthe plate H is made conical, fittinga conical or tapered cavity in the eye d, the latter being separatedfrom the king-bolt, which has a bearing only against the inner surfaceof the part 0. Now, in the act of turning the vehicle, as there is norelative motion between the king-bolt and the plate H. there isconsequently no wear upon the former, which is a matter of greatimportance. The wear that is commonly thrown upon the king-bolt at thispoint takes place at the tapered bearing between the parts f and d. Thetapering of these parts serves to compensate for the wear betweenthem,for, as the contiguous surfaces of the plate H and fifth-wheel wearaway and let the former gradually move downward,the partfconstantlyfills the cavity in the eye (I, on account of the taper.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In combination with the axle of avehi cle formed with a loop, a fifth-wheel formed iron bent verticallyto have its face bear against said head-block and the spring, and 15turned to clasp the latter, a fifth-wheel formed withlaterally-pr0jccting loops, an upper plate for said fifth-wheel formedwith similarloops, and clamping-bolts for said loops, with clips andclamping-nuts, substantially as shown and 20 described.

GEO. A. LANE.

Vitnesses:

E. B. WIIITMORE, M. L. McDnRMoTT.

